Modi slams Akhilesh for his ‘donkey’ jibe

The UP CM had urged Amitabh Bachchan to stop promoting ‘donkeys of Gujarat’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday returned fire to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on his “Gujarat donkeys” jibe, saying there was no need to be afraid of the animal that lived thousands of kilometres away.

Speaking at an election rally in Bahraich, Modi said Akhilesh Yadav should worry about his state where under his watch an entire police force was pressed into action to find a “lost” buffalo. He was referring to state cabinet minister M. Azam Khan’s lost buffalo, and the police teams assigned to track it down.

The Prime Minister, in fact, went a step ahead as people cheered him on and said that he himself drew a lot of inspiration from the Indian wild ass found in the Little Rann of Kutch in his home state.

Modi said: “The donkey does not only work relentlessly without a break, it also is very loyal to its ‘maalik’ (owner).” He was obliquely referring to the people of India as his owner.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister on Monday at his Rae Bareli rally took a dig at Modi by asking megastar Amitabh Bachchan to stop promoting “donkeys of Gujarat” - a sarcastic reference to a tourism promo on wild asses that features the superstar.

The statement invited sharp rebuke from the BJP leaders who said that Akhilesh Yadav was saying “absurd” things faced with an imminent defeat at the hustings.

- IANS